[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 71 (Wednesday, May 19, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E921]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    ARE WE BETTER OFF THAN WE WERE?

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 19, 2004

  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE-JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak on 
where we as a Nation have come over the last 3 years of the Bush 
Administration.
  The question that deserves to be answered is, Are we better off than 
we were three years ago? Is our security better? Are we as safe as we 
should be? Do the Republicans have a plan to create jobs, or to reduce 
the deficit? Is our health care better? Have the costs for college 
tuition gone down? Have we ensured our children a better start in life?
  Mr. Speaker, I can categorically and honestly answer each of these 
questions with a solid ``no.''
  But what has happened in the last three years?
  When President Bush took office, we had a $236 billion budget 
surplus; the Nation had created 22 million jobs in the previous eight 
years and gas prices averaged $1.47 a gallon.
  Today, the government spends $900,000 more a minute than it takes in. 
We are borrowing $1.1 billion daily; 8.2 million are looking for work; 
gas prices are at a 23-year high with a national average of $2.01 a 
gallon; and wages have grown flat while college tuition and health care 
costs have skyrocketed.
  As a result, most Americans are not better off today than they were 
three years ago.
  Most Americans do not feel safer; they are living in fear and are 
losing hope. Forty-four million Americans do not have health insurance. 
Most Americans cannot afford to send their children to colleges and 
universities. This trend must stop.
  America can do better for Americans than this. We can restore hope. 
We can restore peace. We can get back on the right track.
  Democrats want to put America back on the right track. We just need 
the Republicans to get out of the way.

                          ____________________